Luck Of Michelle qualifies

May 04, 2007

It was a good start to the season for Luck Of Michelle as the 3-year-old pacing filly captured her first qualifying race of the season earlier this morning at Mohawk Racetrack in 1:57. "I was really happy with her today," said trainer John Pentland afterwards. "We had schooled her last week, so she had a decent mile under her already. She was nice and calm and easy to drive. She had a good one on her back (Canadette) and was able to hold her at bay in the stretch, so I was quite satisfied.

"I would maybe have liked to see her stretched out a little bit more, but I know Mike (driver Mike Saftic) didn't just want to roll her on the front end too much," Pentland added. "If she had been able to sit in a hole and maybe go a bit more, that would have been great. But she was good doing it, so that's what counts."

Today's effort marked the first appearance for the daughter of Camluck-Michelles Destiny since getting beat by a nose in the $300,000(C) Ontario Sires Stakes Super Final at Woodbine on Oct. 14 of last season.

Pentland says that Luck Of Michelle will definitely come back and qualify again next week at Mohawk in preparation for her first race of the season which will come in the first OSS Gold Series elimination at Western Fair Raceway on May 25.

Last season the speedy lass was the star of the regional program and ended her rookie campaign with nine wins in 13 outings and $689,652 in earnings for Karen Carroll and Natalie Pentland who share ownership.

This year, Pentland has a specific game plan in mind with his star pupil, one that will once again include some major stakes outside of the OSS program.

"We'd like to try and keep her on half-mile tracks as much as we can this year," reports Pentland. "That really seems to be her forte. She is so quick off the gate and gets around the turns better than most, so she it makes her very effective that way. She's got a race in June in Monticello (Lady Catskill) and the Lady Maud at Yonkers in the fall. Plus, she's still eligible to the Jugette, so there could be lots on her plate, but we just want to manage her properly and do what's best for her."

As far as changes in the filly from last season, Pentland says that she has matured both mentally and physically.

"She's a little bit stronger this year and there's maybe five or ten percent more horse there than there was last season," he says. "She's as sound as a dollar. Fortunately, touch wood, she's never taken a bad step and is a healthy horse. She just looks after herself and gets a lot of paddock time. I like the way she handled today and I think she's grown mentally as well which I'm glad to see." (WEG)

« Back